Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Culture Matters
The distinct national cultures involved in cross-border M&As offer increased opportunities but also increased risks from within and outside the organisation and any pre-deal due diligence needs to include an assessment of these cultural risks. Misaligned expectations, behaviours, practices, processes, structures and reward schemes can lead to frustration, employee disengagement and eventually loss of key talent. External challenges such as a disparity in attitudes to issues such as corporate governance, social responsibility, ethics, litigation and intellectual property rights need to be identified and addressed early on in the process to avoid significant problems further down the line.
*Industrial Management
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People Matter
Approximately 40% of corporate revenues are spent on human capital and an average of 50% of managers leave a year after a merger or acquisition. This suggests that integrating organisations need to look after their people and engage appropriately with both cultures. Human capital risks are much greater when mergers cross borders and employees will naturally feel anxious and uncertain about their future. It is crucial that the leadership team understands how to engage, inspire and motivate the newly integrated workforce and create an atmosphere of respect, trust and enthusiasm so that they achieve buy-in from employees on both sides of the border.
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Depending on the complexity of the integration, we can offer a combination of face-to-face training, coaching and consultancy targeting individuals from senior leaders to front-line staff, national teams and functional groups from across the new organisation in order to: Help them understand the specific cultural values, attitudes and behaviours of their new counterparts Increase awareness of each partys own culturally driven behaviours and their impact on others Develop greater intercultural competence and sensitivity Form long-term relationships and improve collaboration across territories Build practical techniques and strategies for creating a shared vision and a third culture enabling both organisations to work more effectively together Improve communication to increase trust and transparency for employees and management across both organisations
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Success Stories
Communicaid has extensive experience working with a wide variety of organisations at different stages of their cross-border merger and acquisition activity. Detailed below are just some examples of recent success stories where Communicaid has been engaged.
Communicaid was selected to design a series of post-deal cultural programmes for HeidelbergCement following its acquisition of the UK aggregates firm Hanson. Cross-Cultural Team Building workshops were delivered in Germany, the US and the UK. Workshops increased awareness of the respective business cultures and helped employees from both companies form stronger cross-border and cross-organisational relationships.
Through our successful relationship with BNP Paribas, Communicaid has developed a series of training interventions for middle and senior managers involved in integration activities between BNP Paribas and Fortis. The programme, Working Effectively in Franco-Belgian Teams in an M&A Context, has been delivered to over 450 employees in Paris and Brussels. Training provides delegates with greater awareness of their colleagues attitudes, perceptions and expectations and provides a series of practical tips and strategies for improved intercultural working. Following the success of this programme, further programmes will be rolled out to continue to support the organisations integration efforts.
Following a number of European acquisitions, HBOS identified integration issues with senior managers working across a range of European cultures. Through close consultation with HBOS senior HR team, Communicaid designed an interactive programme for mixed nationality managers which would enable them to understand their colleagues working and communication styles as well as provide them with practical strategies for managing more effectively across cultures. Training highlighted how national cultures impact on organisational culture and illustrated how cultural difference can be harnessed as a positive factor. The programme was regularly delivered in Frankfurt and Edinburgh.
After a period of extensive organisational integration and realignment, Invensys Rail Group approached Communicaid to design a cross-cultural management programme for senior directors from each of its pre-integration businesses. The range of national and organisational cultures involved in the integration created a number of cultural challenges which were impacting both the integration process and team performance. Following a detailed diagnostic consultancy with key decision makers, Communicaid developed targeted training interventions which raised delegates awareness of the impact of culture on individual and organisational working practices, increased understanding of the respective cultures involved in the integration process and provided a wide range of practical strategies for more collaborative crosscultural working and management. The programme has so far been delivered to mixed-nationality audiences in the UK, Spain and India.
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Communicaid
Providing training and consultancy to international organisations involved in cross-border M&As is an important part of Communicaids work but our solutions go much further in helping organisations to build profitable relationships and work effectively across cultures. With twenty years' experience of assisting the world's leading corporate and public sector organisations to work successfully across borders and cultures, Communicaid operates across five continents through offices in London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and New York and has a network of affiliates and like-minded partner organisations worldwide. Communicaids training, coaching and consultancy services are based on our 3-step approach and in line with our ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certification. In addition to training and consultancy for cross-border M&As, our areas of expertise include: Cross-Cultural Awareness Doing Business in Country series Living and Working in Country series Working Successfully across Cultures Negotiating across Cultures Foreign Language Training All world languages and dialects Industry specific training Language Testing Recruitment Testing
Global Leadership and Management Building International Teams Developing Global Competence Managing Virtual Teams Effective Global Leadership
Specialist English Language Business English Legal English Financial English Diplomatic English
Communication Skills Business Writing Presentation Skills Negotiating Skills Interpersonal Skills Speech Training
Offshore Contact Centre Training and Consultancy Centre Audits Communication programmes Coaching Empathy Skills
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LONDON T: +44 (0)20 3370 8500 F: +44 (0)20 3370 8501 Communicaid E: info@communicaid.com Mitre House W: www.communicaid.com 12-14 Mitre Street London EC3A 5BU United Kingdom PARIS T: +33 (0)1 82 88 88 80 F: +33 (0)1 82 88 88 81 Communicaid E: info@communicaid.fr 36 rue du Mont Thabor W: www.communicaid.fr 75001 Paris France BRUSSELS T: +32 (0)2 808 31 90 F: +32 (0)2 808 31 91 Communicaid E: info@communicaid.be 6th Floor W: www.communicaid.be Rue Guimard/Guimardstraat, 9 1040 Brussels Belgium FRANKFURT T: +49 (0)69 274 015 259 F: +49 (0)69 274 015 183 Communicaid E: info@communicaid.de Mainzer Landstrae, 27-31 W: www.communicaid.de 60329 Frankfurt Germany NEW YORK T: +1 212 618 6369 F: +1 212 618 6309 Communicaid E: info@communicaid.com Rockefeller Center, 7th Floor W: www.communicaid.com 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 USA